"Bell on Wheels, " by Chip VanderWier, exhibited at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, was picked as one of the Top 25 entries for ArtPrize on Monday, September 24, 2012.Matthew Busch | MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A Muskegon Community College ceramics
instructor could win $20,000 later this week at ArtPrize, after his kinetic
sculpture, "Bell on Wheels," was included in the "Best Use of Urban Space"
category of the competition's juried short lists.

Five jurors, including Szenasy, are in charge of one of five categories
and have picked five of their favorite pieces for their respective category.
The winners of each category will win $20,000.

There is also a $100,000 juried "Grand
Prize," will be awarded by a separate panel of three jurors.

VanderWier's
sculpture, "Bell on Wheels," is located at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 134
N. Division Ave., and is made out of repurposed material, including a five-foot
steel cylinder he found at a junkyard 15 years ago.

The cylinder hangs from the top of a triangle-like structure
that is also made out of metal and a mallet is attached to one of the base's
sides. VanderWier said the piece in and of itself is incomplete until a viewer
interacts with it.

"The viewer completes the piece by taking the mallet that's
attached to it and ringing the cylinder, which I call the bell," he said.

He said the piece took about 60 to 80 hours of "hands-on"
work to complete, although that number does not include the time he spent
sanding down the metal, he said.

Chip VanderWier, pictured, is Muskegon Community College instructor who is up for a $20,000 juried award at ArtPrize for his kinetic metal sculpture, "Bell on Wheels."Courtesy

VanderWier said he was surprised he made the
short list.

He said he found about that he was in the running for the $20,000
prize while watching a live coverage of ArtPrize on TV and saw his piece on the
screen as Szenasy
talked about "Bell on Wheels."

"Well gosh, it feels great," VanderWier said about making it
on the short list. "I have feelings of surprise and I'm thrilled and it's
really nice to get recognition form a juror who is in the art community from
New York City. It feels really good to get that recognition."

In addition to teaching at MCC, VanderWier has also taught
at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp the past two summers, he said.